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    • Defensive improvement crucial for Red Wings after disappointing start
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    Defensive improvement crucial for Red Wings after disappointing start

    Caradoc Wyn Posted on

    Detroit – The Red Wings preached the importance of better team defense throughout the preseason.

    And that’s true if the Red Wings want to be successful. They need to limit the number of goals conceded, which has been a particular problem in recent years.

    But the Wings didn’t start the season promisingly in that regard, losing 6-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, where they made many of the same mistakes.

    “We just gave them a lot of offense,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “And it was so easy.”

    The Wings carried the game for most of the first 20 minutes against Pittsburgh. But the game got away from the Wings as they got generous defensively and the Penguins took advantage.

    “The pucks just went in,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “It felt like we were doing the right things, but then there were just major glitches. For the rest of the game, every shift was a different story about what broke. A lot of sloppy outbursts, sloppy returns. “Not a good second and third half, not a good start to our season.”

    It will be interesting to see how the Wings respond Saturday against Nashville as they look to nip this particular blip in the bud before it fits into a difficult October schedule.

    The Wings will be without defenseman Jeff Petry (upper body) on Saturday. Petry missed the third period against Pittsburgh and his status was “day-to-day,” Lalonde said Friday.

    Lalonde said the Wings would bring back defenseman Justin Holl, a right-hander, to replace Petry. Lalonde also wouldn’t rule out rookie defenseman Albert Johansson being in the lineup against Nashville.

    Johansson, a left-handed hitter, was a good hitter against Pittsburgh.

    “I would like to bring Albert in,” Lalonde said. “Maybe I’ll see Albert (Saturday), we haven’t decided on that yet. But I want to try to get him in soon and give him some feel for the game here. We’ll get him in here soon to see how he referees a real NHL game.”

    Ideally, teams would like to have three right-handed hitters and three left-handed hitters, but that’s not always possible. Lalonde didn’t want to go into a game with just one right-hander (Moritz Seider) without Petry.

    “It has something to do with reality,” Lalonde said of the balance. “It probably affected (the Wings) a little bit (Thursday). There is some truth to that. But it’s hard to figure it out.”

    Starting goalie

    Cam Talbot will start Saturday against Nashville.

    Talbot replaced Ville Husso in the loss to the Penguins and stopped 12 of the 14 shots he saw. Husso struggled after several good starts in the preseason, allowing four goals on 14 shots in the second period.

    “Just one bad second period for all of us and he’s the one who gets pulled,” Larkin said. “It’s not fair to him. When a goalkeeper is taken off, it’s usually not just him, it’s an entire team that needs to be accounted for as well. Huss has bounced back from everything he’s been through and we know what kind of player he can be for us.

    “I know he’ll bounce back.”

    Different look

    Lalonde spent five years with forward Steven Stamkos in Tampa Bay when Stamkos was captain, leading the Lightning to two Stanley Cups during that time.

    Stamkos left Tampa over the summer during his free agency trip to Nashville. It will be strange for Lalonde and many in the NHL to see Stamkos in a different jersey.

    “It’s going to be uncomfortable,” Lalonde said. “There are some good memories personally. He is a special person and a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I only made the trip with him and the series loss to Columbus (first-round playoff win in 2019) was an all-time low. For He led us to where we ended up. It’s a pretty unique relationship.

    Lalonde understood why Stamkos would leave the Lightning, who have been suffering from a salary cap crisis for years.

    “He is a special player and has great value,” Lalonde said. “Sometimes you have to look after yourself and I’m sure it was difficult for him to get to this point. But I got it.”

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    Predators at Red Wings

    ▶ Allusion: Saturday, 7 p.m., Little Caesars Arena, Detroit

    ▶ TV/Radio: BSD/97.1

    ▶ Outlook: The Predators opened their season on Thursday with a 4-3 loss to Dallas. Nashville made big headlines over the summer with free agents Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei.

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    Caradoc Wyn
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